The chance comes once in a lifetime. When fellow scooter fanatic Uriel Protomartir asked me if I wanted to join him in riding to Mindanao, I jumped at the opportunity. Having gotten the permission of my family, we were off.

Expecting rain, we had our bags wrapped in plastic and raingear prepped. Departure time from Manila was 3 in the morning. Without the usual fanfare of people seeing us off, 4 riders somberly began the quest.

Passing through provinces previously passed, the ride was uneventful. The weather held up beautifully and we reached our breakfast stop in Gumaca, Quezon in 4 hours. Not bad for 3 PXes and 1 GT300.

After a hearty meal we took off and hit Bicolandia around 9 in the morning. Going to Naga City via the Andaya Highway, we never thought we would get there in one piece due to the horrendous condition of portions of the highway. Potholes as big as our scoots and around 8 inches deep littered the roads and all you could do was suck it in and take the hit. With more than 50 pounds of baggage and 200 pounds of rider on the scooter we were lucky we didn’t break anything.

Reaching Naga by lunchtime we decided to go straight to Legazpi City in Albay end the 1st day there. Of course no trip to Albay would be complete without passing by the Cagsaua ruins and have a peek at the Majestic Mayon volcano.

We reached Legazpi City at 3 in the afternoon, a full 12 hours from the time we left, not bad for old farts. We checked into the fabulous Orchid Hotel where we ended the day with much needed R&R.